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Remarkably nice miniatures. The figure itself is 100% transparent, with a pre-primed earth-like effect base attached. The detail is very good but can be difficult to see due to the transparency. A quick coat of orange ink fixes that and creates a nice fiery feel. Touch up with some black and you have a perfect, if slightly large, medium hell hound.

For those who don't like the pre-painted base the hound can be very easily removed and attached directly to a base with minimal fuss.

Can also double as a ghostly hound if left alone or given a faint green wash, a quick black wash and you have a great shadow hound. Use some blue, white and ice blue and you can create a more than passable frosty version (not all of hell is a burning mess after all)

At this price point I can't help but recommend this to anyone who wants a great looking medium hell hound and doesn't mind having to do a quick paint job.

Such a great idea. So much better for transports around to games. I was concerned it would be too small but it's no where near problematic, text is easy to read, pictures are still excellent for displaying about the table. I sincerely hope they make the rest of the bestiaries in this format.

No different to the core book save the size and cost. Yet I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone. So much more convenient and portable. The text is small but still easily read (even for a 46 year old) and its the latest print version as well. Apparently I also need to order a few more for my friends...

I can only assume their is some serious variation within this set because the ones I received are superb. The sculpts are very clear, if a little overcrowded with detail, and they are all very well painted. Each face is clear and shows the necessary detail, none of the blobby over painting you can see in prepaints, and more importantly the eyes and mouths are in the right places. The tampos (I believe that's what the stamps/transfers are called) are all applied very well highlighting cloak trims, tattoos etc

The figures are smaller than those in the earlier PF battles line but I actually think the scale settled on now is a better size. These do line up with the last few sets, appearing appropriately sized next to my rusty dragon figures.

All in all I think it's a solid Set, maybe a little overcrowded in terms of detail on the figures, a legacy of the Wayne Reynolds art. These details work extremely well on the art but don't translate quite so well into plastic, well at a 28mm scale there's only do much detail you can squeeze into plastic.

This is a solid set that seems to be suffering under some expectations that may be a little too high. Online pics had me expecting some disasters but overall I will say that my set has some very good minis. My case contained a full set and in quantities that meant I really don't need to go looking for singles. Of course I have extra I won't use (4 merchants, 4 frost giant mages, 4 dancing girls, that sort of thing) but the fact that I don't need to go hunting for extras is a big plus for me.

Detail and paint jobs are generally good (I will address the ones I feel strongest about in individual reviews) looking far better than most of the online close ups. As far as NPCs/humanoids go there is an overall improvement in the standard, a big positive when you consider how much they've struggled in the past. Paint could still be applied thinner to prevent obscuring in some cases - most evident in some of the commons in my case where face, hand and feet are obscured, although not consistently - 2 of 4 vampire spawn have the problem, the other two are quite good for example.

For a prepainted cheaper alternative to painting yourself these are a solid 4 star, one off for some inconsistency between figures. And that's really the key - these are a prepainted cheaper alternative. You'll probably not be happy with these if you expect flawless paint jobs or sculpts. Another good set that continues to show improvements, now on to the next set...

This is a great miniature. If taken on its merits alone it has everything going for it. The sculpt is excellent, the painted detail very nice. The whip is made perfectly, just the right thickness to retain its shape and still look like a whip. The biggest issue is size, to some he may seem a little small. This may be biased by previous incarnations of the plastic hyena men, who were quite large for medium creatures. initially this was my impression, but since then I have mixed them in with some of my humans, elves and dwarves and in general they actually look to be a fairly good size, definitely medium sized though. Should I get enough, along with his spear wielding counterpart, that I can replace my sizeable horde of older ones I may find the size has no impact on their tabletop useage. In terms of quality this if a 5 star, If you have no other Gnolls this may well be a 5 star, but if you expect your gnolls to be larger than most medium minis you may be disappointed by their size. Overall I'll give it a 4 as a compromise between the quality and the possible size issue.

The Pickled Punk is strangely another of my favourite monsters and I was looking forward to this. Now I'm well aware of the difficulty in making such a small mini, and I will give credit where it's due. The concept is very cool, the transparent shattered glass tube and overflowing liquid, but the execution is disappointing. The Punk lacks any real detail, but as I said forgivable at this scale I suppose, although a slightly larger figure with exaggerated features could have worked better, perhaps like the gnomes with their oversized heads, it is basically a foetus after all. The real problem is the assembly. The glue used to stick the mini together has fogged the transparent pieces, leaving them cloudy and largely opaque, which kind of spoils the intended effect and leaves a messy, largely featureless miniature. A disappointing turn out for such a quirky and unique monster, but at least they had the guts to try. A two star effort, scaled to three in appreciation on the size and intent behind it.

One of the oddest mythos beings has finally made it into plastic. Now when I first saw this I thought it looked a little goofy, after all the Great Race is a very odd ball being. Once I opened my first I was quite impressed, they are much larger than I thought they'd be and the detail is remarkably good. The figure has a good, solid feel in hand and actually looks intimidating next to your normal adventurer. Perfect for when I run my shadow out of time/mountains of madness inspired Mi-Go & Derro heavy horror trek.

Now I really like Padrig and I was glad to get him in the iconics line. I'll also admit I was a little sad to see him in this set but understood why it happened. This sculpt is larger than the iconics one and painted extremely well. So in comparison it really is made to a lovely standard. Sadly he leans to the side a little too much and tends to topple over. Given he's a little more expensive than his iconic counterpart and so unsteady I find him a little hard to love, sorry Balazar but I'll stick to my iconic.

Mi-Go represent, to me, one of the best pathfinder adopted creatures we have. They have been a pet favourite since there first appearance in the game, and well before that in other well known gaimg arenas. So it should come as no surprise I'm excited to see them in plastic. As a favourite creature I'm actually really picky about the look and was waiting with fingers crossed for this. I am not disappointed. Easily one of, if not the best in the set. Awesome pose looking just like an alien fungal-insect in mid flight, nice detail in the sculpt and brilliant use of translucent plastic on the wings. A 5 star triumph.

This mini is incredible. The level of detail in the sculpt, the pose and the marvellous paint scheme have combined to produce a remarkable, creepy giant centipede that is easily the best to date. One of my absolute favourites from this, or any set.

The goblins have been one of the best parts of the battles line until now. They have always enjoyed what appears to be a high production value, sadly no so with this one. The first ranged addition to the line is a disappointingly bland miniature. There is no real shading on the figure and some details are sadly not eve picked out. The manic goblin grin, for example, is absent since the teeth have been left unpainted and black. No wash leaves the skin a plain, perhaps overly bright green and too much of him is just plain black. Disappointing.

Bias 1: Love the pathfinder RPG
Bias 2: Love me my miniatures
Bias 3: Lovecraft

I was super excited by this set, then I saw some of the minis in a number of sites and my heart sank. They looked poor. Badly painted, obscured details. I was disappointed. Then my case arrived.

Those pictures do this set no justice AT ALL. The minis in Dungeons Deep are nearly all of a very high standard. There's a caveat here: my case had duplicate bricks, so I'm yet to see a Bone Golem, Daughter of Urgathoa, Gnoll caster or Champion. I'd never seen this before, in 9 sets, but it caught me out, boo to you Wizkids. Now onwards...

The general production of these is fantastic, especially for PPM. In the vast majority paint jobs are clean. Yes there is some heavy washes and some paint overflow but it's mostly minor and realistically goes unnoticed. I had zero breakages and no missing minis in any packs.

Highs: While I only got 2 Mi-Go, they are a crown jewel. Translucent plastic and creepy detail. The pegs now have a socket in the base, so the flight stands are much sturdier.

Elder thing. Wow. Love it, nicely detailed all the way to the toothy maw at the top to the transparent wings.

Dire boar is a triumph. Not overstated, but nicely detailed and painted.

The Yithian is amazing. I've always thought these would hard to pull off, they do tend toward the goofy. Wizkids and Paizo (go Erik) ha e made a creature that is remarkably large and menacing.

The centipede and beetle are very nice, especially the centipede. It is incredible and easily a favourite in the set. I know I'm going to hunt for more.

The Ochre Jelly is also extremely well done. The fact that you can just make out a skeleton inside it is phenomenal, and has me excited for the cube in the upcoming set.

As for the dressing? I love them but I can't see me getting enough in a case. Even assuming a good distribution many are a little too rare - braziers and chests for example. They are awesome pieces, the ones I got, so I would encourage paizo/Wizkids to keep it up.

Many of the others fall into this category. The frost giant. She may be much more buff than her male counterpart, but she looks great. Although the eyes on one of mine were a tad too large.

Similarly I have only praise for the dire bat, clockwork golems ( yeah I got three), Orc doomsayers , chupacarbra. Well I could go on but let's just say this set works on so many levels.

There are some dissappointments in the set though. For me these are:

Pickled Punk. I know he's small but even so the detail is not good, consequently the paint job is only so-so. Also the glue used renders the transparent plastic foggy and almost opaque. This one hurts because I love this monster so much.

The goblin archer. Yeah a goblin. Up until now I think we've been spoiled. This one is flat and dull. No wash and poorly picked detail. Now I did only get 1 so I may have been unlucky.

The dwarves, both of them, but the barbarian one mostly. Why? Their faces are very poor. Paint obscures most of the detail. More so on the male. And I know it's consistently so because I have 8 of them :(

The griffon. My least favourite in the set. Poorly sculpted and dull. I imagine the dynamic one in the last D&D set spoiled me here. This just looks...dull. And I got 6.

Despite my odd distribution I still give this set 5, the minis are great. No point in punishing the quality because the distribution was out. Well done Paizo/Wizkids on what is a fantastic set, perhaps the best to date. Again, production is fantastic and the variety is great. As a long time collector I recommend this to anyone looking to add to their collection.

I just hope my Rusty Dragon is a little more varied :)

I like this giant, a lot. It's a good size, nice colour palette and it looks good on the table, especially en masse. The biggest issue is the sword. It lacks detail and it's very bendy. It looks like a flat slab of steel but into a vaguely sword shape, hardly fitting for the forge masters

Looks like the battles line has overcome the QC issues. This set was very impressive. The sculpts are mostly very well done, but as you would expect some I like some I don't. However the paint jobs on these are a big A+. Every mini I pulled was consistently good, well painted faces with easy to make out details. I received a full set and had no incidence of breakages in the cases. In fact out of two cases I received one lone mini that was sitting a little bent on its base (the skinny elf archer)

My biggest gripe is the insistence on using long polearm like weapons that inevitable develop a floppy look. It's messy and ruins the overall aesthetic of the mini wielding them.

The highlight for me is the leaping Boggard. Love it. Great detail, interesting sculpt.

Overall a great set that had me buying two cases, something I haven't done since the shattered star set.

I have never been a big fan of the metallic dragons in miniature form. The opportunities to use them just don't seem to come up all that often and they lack the wow factor of the chromatics. Which is why this one came as such a surprise when I pulled it form its booster. This mini if simply fantastic. Firstly it is very large indeed but with almost no overhang. The detail is great with deep sculpt features. The real triumph is the colouring. The use of the green to highlight the bronze, and the green shading for verdigris makes this mini really pop. I now find myself looking for ways to incorporate this into my game, perhaps a vampiric dragon, maybe a possessed one. Either way I feel the need to drop this on the table and wow my friends.

I'm not sure when, or even if, I would even use this miniature but wow! Is it ever an awesome miniature. The colours are beautifully blended, the detail is great and the use of the transparent plastic for the fire and frost kukri she wields is fantastic. Despite the obscure use for this mini I still fell I can rate it as a 5 star effort simply because it is extremely well done.

I kind of like this mini, i mean I really want too, but....It's a solid sculpt and a nice paint job on the 3 I pulled. Unfortunately for me there are several issues.

Firstly the colour scheme doesn't match with the previous shattered star fire giant. That one had some great brown and bronze flesh tones, this is a little too orange and flat. While the use of transparent plastic is usually a winner with me this time it doesn't quite gel. I think it s more the flat red skin tones that sit alongside the fire. And that crown? Why yellow and not actually gold? The armour, similarly doesn't mesh with the mini. The previous had a beautiful gold armour, this a strange silver blue, almost cartoony set.

Secondly the axe suffers from a pet personal peeve (like the alliteration?) of mine, floppy weapon syndrome. Not one of mine came with an axe that wasn't bent into a half circle! Grrrr. I also find the orange colouring off putting, a metal head or haft would have created some contrast and made it look less cartoony.

Overall not a bad mini, but in comparison to the shattered star giant it's just not a great mini. I was hoping it would match the previous giant better. Paizo have been so good at matching the sets until now.

Wow, just wow. This is one of the best prepainted minis I have seen in a long time. Fantastic sculpt with some incredible detail, especially the tiny brains in every bubble on its back. Very well painted. This is what a prepainted miniature should be. If I had one criticism it would be that the clear post appears and feels quite fragile. I am yet to break one, and I am far from gentle with my minis, but it has that feel.

Once again I find myself confronting the menagerie of mythic madness that is the Mythic Monsters Line (that line seems a little odd to me.) And once again I sit here very impressed by the creativity involved and the grasp that Legendary Games has on the mythic rules.

This time we are treated to 40 pages 9 of which are covers, advertising, contents etc. As I’ve grown to expect the PDF is once again easy to navigate but again lacks bookmarks for true ease. I didn’t notice typos or significant errors. Abilities, skills, feats etc. are hyperlinked to the SRD so people without an encyclopaedic knowledge of the system can easily reference what these things do.

It is up to Legendary games usual high standard of presentation. The artwork is very sparse, with only 2 pieces; the cover art reprinted inside as full page image without intrusive text (and it is a very nice piece), and the new Qlippoth (also a really nice piece).

Before the 13 monsters we get 8 pages of fluff and crunch. The story in this one is a very entertaining key note style speech on the new Qlippoth while the crunch part concerns the conjuration of the Qlippoth (why would you do that?) . More specifically it introduces Qlippoth talismans – curious shards of stone that help in conjuring and controlling the ancient evils (Again, why would you do that?) as well as protecting you from their often debilitating horrific appearance. Great item for your evil nogoodniks and a fantastic little plot item.

Creatures: OK now for the real textural ingredients in the Abyssal salad of Doom. As usual these creatures span a wide range of CR (from 3 – 23) and MR (from 1-10) and all present what I think is a good challenge for their CR; menaing that base stats and abilities are as you’d expect; higher AC, HP, etc bringing them in line with the adjusted CRs. Mythic feat selection adds to each creatures ability with few, if any, sub-par choices. But as always it’s those unique mythic abilities that define the mythic creature and as I said in the introduction I think Legendary games has truly mastered the concept. Here we get 13 great creatures with abilities that really set them apart from their mundane counterparts. Some favourites:
Baregara: I have a soft spot for these ginger, ape-like denizens of the Abyss. Pathfinders vision and artwork for them is extraordinary and really captures the brutal alien nature of these terrors. Now we get a mythic upgrade. Their challenge now affects all opponents in 30’, demoralising or frightening them and enhancing their STR and DEX even more. Their huge arms they don’t even gain the grappled condition if they latch onto you, and even worse should you experience that loving cuddle the wee mouth in their chest can now behead the non-mythic – yeah that’s right they have a cool vorpal chest mouth!

Mythic Bebileth: As a DM I like these because of their armour rending ability. Well that now extends to natural armor. They have the ability to assess weaknesses in a foes natural armour and exploit these to bypass that natural armor all together! Oh, it also now has mythic pounce. Yeah get that image in your mind – a huge, barbed abyssal spider pouncing at you from the shadows, as an arachnophobic I find that hideously creepy and a little too close to how I picture all spiders in my phobia induced delirium.

Demodands: Thankfully all three of the established ones are here (sadly not the new stringy demodand though). Their mythic abilities are truly awesome. As befits their background these bitter enemies of all things divine gain a suite of powers aimed at countering and destroying those with divine power. Auras that prevent the use of channel energy, souls so blasphemous divine spells can barely touch then, and attacks that can actually prevent a creature from using its divine spells and spell-like abilities - shattering its faith and briefly severing it from the source of divine power. Players will want to deal with these bad boys fast, oh so very fast…

Kakuen-Taka A personal favourite, these walking hives are a very cool addition to the game. Massive fleshy homes to swarms of flesh eating fiends that spew forth flights of undead carrion birds. And now they are mythic. The carrion birds they spawn are far more ferocious and constantly molt decaying feathers to create an obscuring cloud of decay wherever they go. Worse still the mansion can now spew forth a pack of hunting hounds that range ahead looking for flesh for the hive to prey upon. Simply seeing the massive hive approach can render you insane, willing to claw out your own eyes to remove the image of awfulness that is the Kakuen-taka. The Kakuen-taka is one of the most memorable creatures I’ve seen in recent years and it’s mythic version is pure gold.

Qlippoth We also get 5 Qlippoth treated to the mythic upgrade including the new Yrylgoi. All are very well crafted but the newby takes the cake. The Yrylgoi is enormous hydra-like worm that seeks to destroy demons and infest their corpses with its young – eggs that hatch into ravenous Shoggti. It possesses a terrible aura that accelerates the course of disease and infestation and a myriad of awful sticky tongues that can draw opponents in or be severed to hold them in place. It is a truly awful, and thus delightfully grotesque, creation.

The creatures in this book are all well thought out and developed, with abilities that render each appropriately mythic and truly memorable. I cannot recommend this enough to anyone that is interested in using foes from the abyss. Your players will remember these encounters for a very long time, they may even lose a little sleep.

Legendary games have done it again. The 11th in the line and yet another great example of how to raise your monsters to a mythic standard. As always this product is almost entirely crunch. 13 devils (including the entirely new and very nice rendered temptation devil) ranging from CR3 to 25, and MR1-10. This one feels thinner than previous editions, around 4 pages , and has a 4 page story that didn't really do much for me. It has two fantastic pieces of art, the new devil- a serpentine fallen angel, and a truly great rendition of a contract devil ( repeated later in a wider format that's not quite as good). It's up to the usual high standards of legendary games. Well presented, hyperlinked to the SRD for easy reference and practically free of errors. Well I only found 1, but them as I've always said I'm not the best judge of this. The barbed devil is referred to as a hamata devil rather than a hamatula in its title.

As I've said before the real proof with this type of book is the mythic abilities, those things that set the mythic version apart from its mundane(?) counterpart. As I've come to expect this entry once again adds mythic abilities that both complement and enhance, creating memorable creatures your players won't soon forget. Some of my favourites:

Barbed Devil: CR13 foe that can now use its barbs as deadly projectiles, or an even deadlier bloody defence. They can even create terrible blights that bring forth eruptions of the same deadly barbs from the ground, to harrass and sicken those no good do-gooders.

Bearded devil: these glaive wielding brutes can now enter a terrible hell fury, increasing there combat effectiveness but also granting the the ability to retaliate against those who strike them. Even worse their glaives can now parry attacks, and not just the ones directed at them but also those destined to strike adjacent allies as well. Add to this the ability to lunge at foes within their threat range, toppling them from their feet and potentially staggering them and you have a brutal encounter, especially given the CR 6 this monstrous foe represents.

Pit Fiend: wow! Now they can cremate their foes, reducing the to lifeless ash, or call forth massive conflagration from 1000's of feet away. They burn with hellfire, scorching their foes with tooth and claw and spewing forth burning blood when struck. So what? I hear you say, I'll just protect myself from fire. Sadly they can also strip any such resistance you may have with little move than a wave of their hand, leaving you fully exposed to a fiery and inevitable death. Pure genius.

As for the new guy? Well the Lissifer is a fallen angel twisted into a serpentine form. A devil with a silver tongue that can take any form, that spews forth profane poison and devours the corpses of the fallen. Sure it can grant you great power but are you willing to pay the price?

All in all I liked nearly every dvil contained here in. I wasn't as impressed by the imp or accuser devil. These didn't seem to get a great deal to separate them from there mundane associates, both are only MR1 though, so that doesn't really surprise me. You can take a mythic imp as a familiar though!

Once again legendary games set a benchmark for what it means to be a mythic monster. 13 well though out and well crafted deadly foes, familiar enough but subtely so much deadlier as befits those tempters of mortal man. I can heartily give this one 4 1/2 stars, rounded to 4 since pathfinder does do things in half measures. If you are a fan of the new mythic rules, or a DM simply In need of memorable foes this little gem is worth your time and money.

Saw this in my brick and mortar store and had to buy it. This means once my order ships here I'll have two of each so does that matter? No way, I may even push for a third if my pre painted plastic allowance can afford it. These are fantastic minis and if this is the start of a line of huge figures I have real hopes it will continue. Lets look at each.

Frost worm: The detail on this is beautiful, right up top the ice clinging to its body as it bursts from the ground. Mine is extremely well painted with good clean edges and detailing - perfect no, there are spots were the paint is applied a little haphazardly, the mouth is perhaps the weakest point, the teeth could be more clearly defined and the mouth is an odd red pit. Overall this is a great miniature with beautiful detail and a good paint job.

Svatharim: Another triumph. This guy is really well detailed. The paint is applied really well on mine, and while the armour could have been lighter to separate it from he horses body more, the overall effect is still very good. The gold and silver need some shading. The biggest mistake I can see is the slight, and I mean slight, overpaint between face and beard (some blue on the beard). The face however is so expressive and detailed I can easily overlook this - that said I think the eyes could have been painted, they are large and clear enough. As it stands they are just the same blue as the face. I'm being very picky and the mini really has only one problem - the spear. Why do they insist on thin hafted polearms. The spear is so easily bent out of shape, and gravity quickly pulls it into a bowed shape. It upsetting to see a great mini holding a floppy spear! The Storm giant release with runelords has the same issue.

These are some truly nice minis and it will look very, very impressive the first time you put them down in front of your despondent players. As a start to what I hope is a long lived line I can happily give them 4.5 out of 5, but will round to 4 for the very minor issues and the thin spear. Buy it you won't be disappointed.

Legendary games line of Mythic Monster supplements continues to set the benchmark for mythic creatures with this latest addition to the line.
Again, like its predecessors, the PDF is 34 pages making it easy to navigate despite lacking bookmarks for true ease. It meets the high expectation I now have of Legendary Games material, easy to read; nice, if sparse artwork. As always I didn’t notice typos or significant errors, there probably will be, but that is no surprise since I may not be the best judge of such things. Abilities, skills, feats etc. are hyperlinked to the SRD so people without an encyclopaedic knowledge of the system can easily reference what these things do.

In this addition to the line we get 10 pages of ToC,OGL, introductions, credits ads etc. 2 pages of art (with the cover image repeated inside sans text).

We also get 4 pages on the planar code, a system of symbols used to navigate planar portals. One of the pages covers the rules, the other three contain images of symbols for various planar gates, things like destinations plane, conditions beyond the portal (nice place to rest, lethal temperatures beyond) and a few other specific planar ones (this portal leads to a place on the fire plane that’s cool enough to survive without spells).

It’s an OK system I’m just not sure I use it unless I was playing a particularly heavy plane hopping adventure. Since it doesn’t diminish the crunch (we still get 13 creatures here) I imagine it won’t bother anyone, whether they use it or not.

There's a nice page on the role of mythic genies and wishcraft. Well written and opens up a few cool ideas for using the mythic genies contained within.

That leaves 17 pages of mythic monster goodness, the real focus of the book.

As usual the creatures span a wide range of CR/MR and all present a reasonable challenge for their CR to my mind. Base stats and abilities are as you’d expect and Mythic feat selection is sensible adding to each creature’s ability with few, if any, sub-par choices. I’ve said in previous reviews what makes mythic creatures really shine for me are those unique mythic abilities it gets over the base creature. As I’ve come to expect the abilities are well thought and complement the theme of the creatures very well. Again I will highlight some of my favourites.

Genies: We get all 5: Janni, Djinni, Marid, Efreeti and Shaitan. Admittedly with only 1 evil member their use could be limited, but hey corruption and madness are just around the corner. Two examples - The master of the air, the noble Djinn gains some nice ranged bow abilities making it a very capable ranged attacker. Add to this their ability to bypass deflection bonuses to AC and I can a few surprised faces around the table.

As for the Efreeti, let’s just say I wish I had this when I ran Legacy of fire. He gains some nifty spell like abilities (fireball, a fiery version if ice storm and greater invisibility!) ending with an 'at will' blistering invective that can set foes alight and intimidate them into a state of fear rather than simply leaving them shaken. Our friendly Efreet also gains the ability to conflagrate (erupting into flames and burning anyone within 40’) or surround himself with a cloud of burning embers (damaging foes, blinding them and reducing STR and DEX!). Now that is an image of a mighty Efreet I can live with.

Invisible Stalker: It has a death attack, yep that’s right the assassin class ability. Now you can tremble in fear any time the air shifts mysteriously somewhere near you. OF course should it choose to activate its electric field and supercharge the air around it (it is an air outsider after all) you may just be content with electrical damage that simply bypasses non mythic protection, oh it just loves those heavily armoured types in their metal shells don’t you know.

Salamander: Fire seems to get all the love. Confirmed criticals erupt into punishing fiery blasts, and trace a winding 'snaking path of fiery doom' from their target (well a fire snake spell really but I prefer snaking path of fiery doom), punishment for their foe and his allies! Add to that the fact that these mythic creatures have regeneration that can only be overcome by the weapons that they forge (or mythic cold :), but don't tell anyone that) and the often disappointing CR 6 creature becomes a deadly CR 8 source of fiery death.

Luminal Hound: This is the new guy on the inner burbs. It’s a curious cross of construct and outsider. It’s a fearsome hunting animal that has construct immunities and is damned hard to escape. Once it has you in its grapply* jaws it can elect to travel with you if you try to escape using the old teleport or plane shift, it can even expend mythic power to do this when it’s just standing next to you. I can see some very upset players in my games. “Well that’s OK I’ll just go ethereal, astral or incorporeal” I hear you say. Ah, nope it can see and freely attack these creatures without penalty! To round it off you even get the rules for making full plate from their hides. Neato.

The others included are mythic versions of: Ghuls, Mercans, Tojanida, Xills, and Xorns. Each has what amounts to a well thought out and developed set of abilities that render each appropriately mythic and reinforce their essential theme.

Legendary games continues to impress with the design of its mythic creatures. I look forward to even more in the future and have my fingers crossed for a mythic monsters print collection. Another sterling 5/5 for the collection, even if it includes some obscure beasties I may never use, I’m certain I can pillage their abilities for my own nefarious uses.

* this IS a word. It is clearly written in my dictionary. The fact that this writing is in pen, and my handwriting, does not devalue my use of this perfectly valid word.

Before I start let me begin by saying I am a big fan of all things lovecraftian and eldritch. This means this particular volume had a leg up when it came to appeal but also a higher than normal expectation before I even opened the covers. So lets begin…

At 34 pages the PDF is easy to navigate but lacks bookmarks for true ease. It is well presented and easy to read but many, many creatures spill over several pages and occupy pages with other creatures. I didn’t notice typos or significant errors, there probably will be, but that is no surprise since I may not be the best judge of such things. If there is an error or issue a quick look at the discussion will show you how fast Jason etc reply to queries, So in essence you could say there is good customer support.
Abilities, skills, feats etc. are hyperlinked to the SRD so people without an encyclopaedic knowledge of the system can easily reference what these things do.

The artwork is very sparse, no surprise to those who follow the line, with the cover art reprinted inside as full page images without intrusive text. The image on the cover is quite nice but the image of the byakhee is not quite as good in my opinion.

[Mythos] Subtype: The book suggests and uses the mythos subtype. I haven’t seen this before but it’s essentially a descriptor to lump the creatures and spells together into a more focused group that will allow players and DM’s to focus abilities specifically at these creatures – ranger favoured enemies for example, or the new path abilities (see below). A list of 40 odd monsters from the bestiaries that qualify for this subtype is included, so it doesn’t feel like a particularly limited set of creatures.

The new mythic path abilities and items: Alien alchemy is OK and it’s nice to see a path aimed squarely at alchemists. Mechanically its a save penalty and damage boost for alchemical items (including bombs) against creatures of the [mythos] subtype. The second – Elder signs (which you can see on Legendary games website) - is great. A move action power that boosts abilities to deal with [mythos] creatures – reducing concealment, improving chances of summoning or banishing such creatures for example. In a mythos heavy campaign I can see this being a popular choice.

The 4 items we get certainly fit perfectly into creating a mythos feel. Incense to enthral [mythos] creatures, powder to reveal such creatures hidden to the sight, a mead that suppresses the need to breathe and a unguent that offers you the classic dream visions (with the obligatory chances of misdirection and failure that accompanies such dubious alchemy).

Creatures: The real focus of the book. The creatures span a wide range of CR/MR and all present a good challenge for their CR in my mind. Base stats and abilities are as you’d expect; higher AC, HP, etc bringing them in line with the higher CRs, so no real comment is needed here I feel. Mythic feat selection is sensible adding to each creatures ability with few, if any, sub-par choices. Let’s face it though what makes mythic creatures really shine are those unique mythic abilities it gets over the base creature. In this instance the mythic abilities are well thought out, creative and extremely creepy or stomach churning as befits the theme. By necessity the wall of text presented here is quite vast. Each of the abilities, old or new, is described in detail and a few entail effects that need to be tracked. Overall the design is very solid and the abilities develop the ideas and themes of each creature, they don’t give the impression of being added on simply to mythic up the creatures. There are 13 creatures contained within so I won’t go into each, but to give you an idea of this creativity:

Denizen of Leng: Now with very creepy circulation. Blood lost by the denizen returns to their body by circulating and flowing through the air around them, what’s more it acts as a potent poison to those that harm the creature. They also gain the ability to dominate their foes as befits these inter-dimensional slavers.

Mythic Gug and Gug Savant: Gugs are fearsome enough so how does a mythic version compound that issue. Well now they can glide through the earth to strike without warning from any direction. The savant can even warp your spells, turning them back against the caster. However it is rend that wins in the disgusting stakes, you see their ability to rend is upgraded. More damage? Sure, added CON damage not HP, but that’s not particularly disgusting I hear you say. Well then let’s look at the reason for that Con damage; the rend eviscerates the opponent spilling out their internal organs and entangling them within the bloody intestinal mess. Yup you become entangles in your own guts! A word of warning about the gugs – they also have mythic power attack, this means 5 attacks, +18 ATT, average damage per attack ~20 without considering the rend. They have a low initiative but at CR12 they have the ability to annihilate an average PC.

Hound of Tindalos: Offers a great take on the dual initiative ability. The hound can split itself into two entities, itself and a future self. They have a common set of HP etc. but act as two separate entities with two separate actions for the round. The hound also gets a host of other cool abilities – probability shift, temporal retribution and warped entry upgrade. What are these? Check them out you won’t be disappointed – but let’s just say one of them means your long suffering PC’s will be rolling actions twice and taking the worst result – hell yeah, a pugwampi eldritch style!

Shoggoth: The granddaddy of the book. At CR 24 the shoggoth is the most challenging creature in the book. So does it live up to the high CR? I think so. Its abilities are nasty. Simply attacking it can leave you paralysed! It has an ability allowing it any number of free AoO against those that dare attack it! It can move freely in all directions including up through empty air (try to imagine that, then try to get that out of your mind once you have), its wisdom drain is horrendous as befits a mind shattering master of the mythos (try saying that 5 times). Oh and lastly it can birth non-mythic shoggoth!

The other 8 creatures are just as good if not better. Each has what amounts to a well thought out and developed set of abilities that render each appropriately mythic. If I had one criticism it would be the same one I have for the other books in this series – I need more. I want the other 27 creatures mentioned to get the legendary games mythic treatment. This is a fantastic book that evokes both the mythic and mythos feel perfectly. Personally I think it’s the best in the line yet, but as I stated in my opening I’m biased. I recommend this for anyone, not just the mythos fans out there.

Have to agree with the reviewer below. I think the shoreline map in this one is simply brilliant. There is just enough of both land and sea to run an effective encounter using both terrains. The other side doesn't look like a battle map, without the small hut to indicate that it is designed for miniatures use you could be excused for thinking it was a scale map of a much larger island.